Bomberman Act: Zero
Like many elderly series though, Bomberman has saturated the market with one release after another and quite frankly the games have been derivative over the past few years. The sense of fun and, most importantly, quality has dropped to the point that fans of the original probably have a bad taste in their mouth. If you consider yourself an adorer of the franchise then it's time to get a powerful breath mint. The new Bomberman will definitely leave you with a foul aftertaste.
Gameplay:
It would seem that Hudson Soft felt the need to reinvigorate the Bomberman franchise and shake things up a tad. Once I heard that this game was coming to the Xbox 360 I was naturally excited as I'm sure several other fans were. As more and more information was leaked about the title I have to admit that I became skeptical. I always try to keep an open mind in such cases but Act Zero has turned into a pill that is very hard to swallow.
To be fair Bomberman: Act Zero does have most of the elements that helped make the original a success. You play as a character. You drop bombs which explode in a cross-like pattern. There are power-ups and grid-like stages with blocks. Let's just say that the comparisons stop there.
Yes the gameplay is at its core kind of, sort of what Bomberman use to be. Unfortunately, both modes that are available, single player and multiplayer, are void of anything that could be considered fun. The single player campaign consists of a survival mode, with the only options being "Standard" (one hit you die) and "FPB" (all characters have a health bar).
I'm sorry to report that the single player mode is (and I don't kid) 99 levels of mediocre action sandwiched between an obscene amount of loading time. What is the true "beauty" of this feature? Someone thought it would be a great idea to make it so that you can't save or continue. If you want to beat the game you have to sit there and play through 99 levels without dying. Ever. Yeah, that's right. You can't frigging die (or in standard's case; take a hit) because if you do then it's game over and you have to start from the beginning.
The multiplayer comes in the form of a "World Battle" mode only. There is no 4-player or system link to be had so if you and some buddies actually wanted to blow each other up it would have to be over Xbox Live. In World Battle the pickings are slim as far as options go. There are literally like two modes with a few options to tweak and absolutely nothing else that livens up the experience. Load times again become a problem in this mode and the servers are plagued by a fair amount of lag. I do have to admit that I had a few good matches, but considering the very skimpy pool of players, good luck finding consecutively good games.
I also have to bitch about the camera system. For some reason the angle changes depending what mode you pick. In Standard the camera is centered directly above the grid making everything irritatingly small. In FPB mode the camera is a quasi-third person view that offers you limited range in maneuverability and the inability to zoom out. Just don't be surprised if you find yourself getting caught on a corner thus getting hit by your own bomb. To make matters worse when a match starts the camera angle completely changes and it takes about a second to orient yourself and figure out where you are on the map.
Once you get past the fact that single player sucks, the camera is abysmal and multiplayer is borderline a waste of time is there any reason to actually play Bomberman: Act Zero? Sure the gameplay is in its very basic form a version of the franchise's reputation, but it's so lackluster it's not even funny. Grabbing power-ups helps to speed things up though the controls feel clunky and unresponsive at times. That's kind of a sad statement because all you literally press is the A button the entire time. I guess if you find yourself lacking fingers you have something to be happy about.
I suppose the only reason to actually suffer through this game would be if you are an Achievement addict. There are 50 in total and they range in objectives though for some reason the game lists 90% of these as "Secret". Breaking 1,000 blocks and dropping 1,000 bombs are the easy ones. Good luck with being able to start enough battles online to actually get that achievement. There just aren't enough people playing to make it worth your while. Even if you're renting the game to get the extra points there are still better things you could be doing with your time.
Graphics:
Unoriginal, uninspired and ugly are the best ways to describe Bomberman: Act Zero. The cute characters and quirky designs of old have been replaced by an lackluster presentation in every sense of the word. There are two character models; a male and a female. Both look the same with futuristic cyborg outfits that look like they came from a fire sale for some science fiction B-movie. Let's just say that this new look does not work and dear lord I hope that if Bomberman survives this game, we get the old look back.
As far as the graphics themselves they match my overall impression with the rest of the game. Textures are limited and the animation is minimal so things are very underwhelming despite technical output. Do you want to know the worst part? The game is constantly taking place in the same (or eerily similar) environment. Chalk points on the board for creativity…
Audio:
And the hits just keep on coming…
The music in Bomberman is limited to a couple of songs that repeat themselves at every single menu and every single stage. The sound effects boil down to "Boom!" and the voice work that's available is presented in the form of an irritating robotic voice that says five lines spread out at the start and end of a match. The voiceover also dictates power-ups and there are screams when you kill someone but either way you slice it the sound package is just annoying all around.
Conclusion:
On just about every level this game is a disappointment. After fifteen minutes with it you'll be bored and frustrated, which I'm sorry, just isn't worth $49.99. In fact $9.99 would be something of a stretch if you ask me. Hudson would have been much better off retooling a game like Super Bomberman and making it available on the Xbox Live Arcade. You just can't pass off a title like this in today's market. The gameplay is empty, the graphics are terrible, the audio is far below average, and the multiplayer is fruitless especially since there is support for only eight players (though good luck finding that many). Just forget about this game and keep your fingers crossed that it hasn't put a bullet into the franchise.